Australia's continued expansion in raw cotton production is directly dependent on the industry's ability to market its product to overseas buyers. Trade in the world cotton and textile markets is increasingly competitive. As cotton's share of world textile demand has declined from approximately 75 per cent in 1950 to around 46 per cent today, manufacturers are continuously seeking new technology to increase margins and relocating their plants to reduce labour and operating costs . Major world producers and traders of raw cotton are, likewise, taking an increasingly aggressive marketing approach, differentiating and promoting their product to both existing and emerging markets.

Cotton fibres are differentiated from single cells of the outer epidermis of ovules and originate at, or soon after, anthesis (Ramsey and Berlin, 1976). Cotton fibre differentiation, characterised by a precise and synchronous growth and uncomplicated by cell division, is a suitable experimental system in which to study cellular and developmental events. In addition, the commercial desirability of long fibres has stimulated studies of the factors involved in controlling the extent of fibre growth. The main aim of this project was to isolate and characterise cDNA clones of mRNAs which are specific to, or important in, cotton fibre development.

We introduce a new idea, that recovery capacity is an important trait in cotton resistance to insect damage. We developed an index of recovery capacity that can be measured in short, simple and inexpensive glasshouse experiments. Using this index, we show that: A considerable variability exists among cotton genotypes in their capacity for recovery. - A substantial proportion of variation among cotton genotypes in yield losses due to insects, including Helicoverpa and mirids, can be accounted for the variability in their recovery capacity.

The 1995/96 season saw the first occasion when CSIRO varieties with the Monsanto Ingard gene were tested on commercial farms. This article presents a summary of those trials.

The aim of this project is to produce cotton with increased levels of the two enzymes in the alcohol fermentation pathway through the insertion of extra copies of the genes using Agrobaeterium transformation. In addition, existing ethanol fermentation rates will be experimentally further reduced by targeting the ADH enzyme with antisense constructs. The resulting transgenic plants can then be tested in controlled conditions for altered anaerobic tolerance.

Production of cotton in Australia is very dependent on insecticides for the control of the major pests, Helicoverpa spp, mites and sucking insects. This approach has resulted in even greater reliance on insecticides because of pest resurgence and the need to control secondary pest outbreaks. For many years now some researchers have been espousing a view that beneficial insects - predators and parasites- are important in the management of some of these pests. However, disruption by insecticide sprays has often negated any effect beneficials might have in managing pest populations. Despite intensive research over many years to quantify the importance of beneficial insects, it seems we are still a long way from understanding just how effective they are. In fact there are some mixed messages emerging from recent research (Stanley and Gregg 1994). According to Robert Mensah, NSW Agriculture, these mixed messages have come about because most researchers have evaluated the performance of beneficial insects only on the number of prey individuals can eat, grouping them as important or non-important. However the significance of predation to prey populations depends upon (1) the total number of predators present and (2) the predators ability to find and consume prey. For example, individual predators may consume only small numbers of prey; however, if predator density is high relative to prey density then predators may cause significant mortality in prey populations. Conversely, individual predators may consume large numbers of prey, but if predator density is low relative to prey density the overall effect on prey populations may be slight. The concerted action of these beneficial insects to control prey is more important. Researchers must therefore understand how whole communities of generalist and specialist natural enemies act to suppress pests e. g. Helicoverpa spp , not just the individual species which we introduce or augment.

The Gwydir Valley region has been experiencing varying but rising levels of the incidence of Silver Leaf Whitefly (SLW) over the last few years, and the Macquarie is only a season or two behind. The growers and consultants in both the Gwydir and Macquarie valleys see this as a significant emerging issue and are highly supportive of Area Wide Management Groups that could possibly help implement a more targeted approach to the prevention and management of SLW.

The project proposed to engage in peer to peer learning to support consultants and growers in their management of SLW. The experience of consultants and growers in Emerald, St George and the Macintyre would provide insight into what may happen if this pest is not controlled in an appropriate manner. Importantly, CottonInfo and the Macquarie and Gwydir Valley Cotton Grower Associations (CGA) want to ensure that consultants and growers fully understand the potential implications from a fibre quality perspective. Can we effectively link the impact of cotton fibre discounts with the effective implementation of Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

This travel enabled one CRDC representative to attend the CRDC Resilience Workshop, held in Sydney in September, 2017. The workshop was an opportunity for cotton industry stakeholders to gain an understanding of resilience thinking and hear about the results from the CRDC cotton resilience project in particular the important thresholds and tipping points that the industry should be considering.

Historically, the wild Australian Gossypium species have played a minor role in cotton breeding. Before 1980, this was mostly due to the rarity of material in germplasm collections, which contained only the commonest species (e.g., G. australe & G. sturtianum). A series of collecting expeditions in the 1980s addressed this situation, and the CSIRO Gossypium germplasm collection now contains accessions of every known species. This presents the opportunity to use all the Gossypium species that evolved in Australia to develop better Australian cotton cultivars. This article summarises ongoing work to develop strategies to overcome the extensive crossing barriers that preclude exchange of genetic material between the wild Australian Gossypium species and the cultivated cottons in nature.

The impact of legumes after 21 years of rotation (11 legume crops) continue to positively impact soil health. The addition of a legume in a cotton rotation impacts all aspects of the cotton production. The evidence was clear from the soil N status and plant accumulation of N (nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), Carbon:Nitrogen (C:N) ratio and Apparent Nitrogen Fertiliser Recovery (ANFR)), yield, fibre quality to seed nitrogen and protein content. The most significant benefit of including a legume was evident when a legume followed a summer and winter fallow before the next cotton crop was sown (CV~C and CF~C). The long fallow allowed for the legume crop to reach optimum biomass production and time for the fixed atmospheric N to be mineralised and available for the following cotton crop. The addition of wheat into the cotton rotation also had a positive impact when compared to the continuous-cotton rotation. The impact from adding wheat was not as beneficial as a legume, however there were benefits by adding wheat into the cotton system.

This long term rotation experiment at ACRI, established by the late Dr Ian Rochester in 1994, has assisted with the understanding of soil and plant nutrition interactions. It has been a pivotal site in developing the industry crop nutrition requirements (especially N) but has evolved over the years to include the following research initiatives and outcomes:

- Advancing the understanding of legumes and their role in cotton crop systems.

- The role of stubble management in soil fertility.

- Improving the understanding of fertilisers (the role of timing, application and type) in increasing cotton productivity.

In recent times the site has also been important to the following research initiatives

- The dynamics of soil carbon in various rotation systems. (Data published from 1998 to 2008 reported the only increase in soil carbon under a cotton farming system in Australia).

- Greenhouse gas emissions from various cotton rotations and N application practices.

- Increasing attention on soil microbiology because of the sites high fertility.

- The response of cotton genotypes to various fertility regimes.

The 2016/17 season was the first time a Bollgard® 3 variety had been sown in the long term trial. The new variety responded to high rates of N and positively to the legume rotations. The fitted curves for N rates and N uptake revealed a positive linear relationship for the new Bollgard® 3 variety for the cotton-vetch-summer and winter fallow-cotton rotation. This is something to investigate for Bollgard® 3 response under a legume rotation. Under the continuous cotton rotation, the optimum N rate was calculated as 407 kg N/ha, however only yielding 12 bales/ha. In comparison the CV~C rotation only required 147 kg N/ha to achieve a much higher 14 bales/ha. The new variety responded positively to both vetch and faba bean in rotation and continued to follow the trend to the previously sown Bollgard® II varieties.